I’ve recently become seriously addicted to Pinterest. In December, over the looonnnggg Winter Break, I passed the time on the treadmill by pinning. I pinned a lot. And a lot. To the point where I was starting to have to really limit my time, breaking it up into a few times per day instead of one consistent pinning session-athon. I noticed the more I pinned, the more followers I got. I started out with around 1300 followers and a few weeks later, I had over 8000. While it may not be a huge deal with very unimpressive numbers, it was interesting to watch it happen. I also started paying attention to what my followers were pinning and I started working harder on those boards.
Pinterest is one of the leading social media sites right now. Besides Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, if you sell a product, or even a service, you NEED to be on Pinterest! Check out these ways to grow your brand using Pinterest.
Create or convert to a business account.
There is an option when creating a Pinterest account to make it a “business” account, and if you have a business or a blog, you will want to do this. If you already have an account you can simply convert it. This will boost your SEO on search engines, and allows for better exposure and branding over a regular personal account.
Pin Share Buttons.
Install those share buttons in a couple different places within your blog or website. Make it easy for your readers to share your stuff on Pinterest! Also, have a Pinterest profile widget located on your sidebar. You can either link to a popular board or to your entire account, whichever works for you.
Going Social.
The more you share on Pinterest, the more repins you get and the more apt others are to follow you. It’s quite a no-brainer how that works. Share, share, share and your account will start growing!
Also, just like when you’re growing your blog by commenting on other blogs, comment on popular pins. Don’t say things like “Great pic!” or “Cool product”. Leave a REAL comment!
Link EVERYTHING with your Pinterest page. TELL people to follow you there and why they should.
Once you create a Pinterest account, or convert it, be sure to link it everywhere! Your Facebook page, on your website, anywhere that you link other social media sites, be sure to add your Pinterest account.
Be sure to also tell people to head over and follow you. People will not do what you don’t tell them to. If you want more followers on Pinterest, get yourself out there and tell people.
Create good content.
This is a no brainer. Make the things that you post WORTH repinning. Professional images and wording are two things that are going to get you more repins over most others on the site. I recommend either Canva or PicMonkey for creating your images. Both are really easy to use.
Use content that is pinned often, recipes, fashion, etc. Give people what they want. If you are a food blogger, be sure to share all of your posts using a high quality image from that post on Pinterest. Look into what people are most into pinning right now, and offer that content to them to repin.
Use logos on your images.
Every image that you post should have your logo on it somewhere. This is one of the best ways to brand. This doesn’t mean that you should slap it on the image any old place and cover half of the image or content. Place your logo accordingly on the image so that it is visible but not overpowering. If you don’t want to use an image logo, at least put the name of your website on the pin so that others know where it came from!
Use backlinks on all pins.
In your description on Pinterest for each pin, you will want to use a link back to the item in your shop, or recipe on your blog, etc. Never forget this! This is how people will discover the original location. Links can also be used in the same fashion of the logo if you are concerned that people will just delete it and write a new description, however many people leave the original description. Never send out a pin with just the image.jpg or whatever file name it has, put in a description or name of the post PLUS your blog name!
Host a pin it to win it contest.
Need to build your followers? Host a contest or giveaway on Pinterest. Pin it to win it giveaways drive traffic up on Pinterest pages. Be sure to note that they must follow you in order to participate and must keep the original description. These types of events get your brand, name, and page out there quickly and easily. Be sure to make the prize worth the participant’s efforts to participate.
Are you addicted to Pinterest? What tips can you share that have worked for you?